


If you must weep, do it right here at my bed as I sleep

by Justafewthingstosay



Series: Taz Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Funeral, Real sad stuff my guys, This takes place after Episode 28 so if you haven't listened to that don't read this, Tumblr Prompt, prompt, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 21:24:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19117987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justafewthingstosay/pseuds/Justafewthingstosay
Summary: He can't really be gone, right? This is just another trick, isn't it?Maybe if Aubrey tells herself that he's not really gone, he will come back.But the world doesn't work on maybe's or wishes. And he is never coming back.





	If you must weep, do it right here at my bed as I sleep

**Author's Note:**

> So this was a prompt that someone send me on tumblr and I'm just gonna post it here!

Aubrey couldn’t hear Mama speak, she knows that she was speaking, but her ears were drowning all sounds.    
  


She still couldn’t believe it, but with a small glance to the dark coffin standing behind Mama the truth hit her like a train. 

 

Ned Chicane was dead. He sacrificed himself to save her girlfriend Dani. He sacrificed himself to save so many, he didn’t even know how many he had saved. 

 

She swallowed down some tears and let out a shaky breath, her fingers moving over the thin paper of Cryptonomica stationary. The paper had been stained by her tears, her mascara had been running down her face when she first read the letter, so she decided not to wear any today. She already looked like a mess, she didn’t need her mascara to make it worse. 

 

In an effort to distract herself she let her gaze move across the room. Next to her was Dani, not feral anymore her face torn up with guilt, her hands clenched on her lap. Her knuckles white, with small red half-crescent lines, where she had pushed her nails into her skin. 

 

Aubrey moved a hand from the letter and put it over Dani’s hands, receiving a look from the other girl, her face was tear streaked, her lip bleeding from where she had bitten down on it and Aubrey only gave her a small smile, moving to hold her hand and squeezing it reassuringly. 

  
Dani squeezed back, looking back down onto her lap. 

 

Aubrey started to look around again. Ned didn’t have any family anymore, so she and Ned’s other friends sat in the first row. 

 

She saw Kirby, his entire frame was shaking from sobs, he wasn’t even looking forward, his body hunched over, making himself as small as possible. She wanted to hug him, tell him it was okay but was it? Was it really? 

 

Duck sat next to her, the man was staring straight forward, tears leaving his eyes, but he didn’t move to wipe them away. 

 

Suddenly Dani shifted beside her and that’s when Aubrey noticed that Mama wasn’t standing behind the pedestal anymore and everyone was slowly standing up. The service was over.

 

As Dani got up, Aubrey stayed seated. Duck beside her was also still sitting. Dani gave her a careful smile and whispered: “I’m gonna wait outside, you two take your time” and with that, she walked away. 

 

Just like that, the room was empty, except for her and Duck. 

 

The man moved before she could, pulling something out of his suit jacket and placing it into Ned’s coffin. 

  
“Something to remember us by, you old doofus,” he said with shaking words, his shoulders deflated and his entire form shaking. He looked so much smaller than he normally did, so vulnerable. 

 

Aubrey approached the coffin carefully if she didn’t see him, maybe it wouldn’t be real then, maybe it was all still a bad dream. As she took another step, the wind was blown out of her, it felt like she was punched in the chest by a boxer, she could hardly breathe as she saw the soft look on Ned’s face. 

 

His beard was neatly brushed, his eyes closed and he looked so god damn peaceful that it broke Aubrey's heart. Never had she seen him so peaceful while he was still alive. There had always been something that was causing problems, Agent Stern, a Bom Bom, another eviction notice when he couldn’t pay his rent. Ned was never able to catch a break, never allowed to just enjoy his life. Aubrey knew that now. 

 

Duck had moved back a little, giving her space as she approached with short steps. It looked like he wanted to leave but Aubrey shook her head, pleading him to stay.    
  


“Please stay. I can’t lose both of you,” she whispered and Duck stopped in his tracks, waiting for Aubrey. 

 

She stood next to Ned now, but she didn’t look at him, her gaze was fixed on the satin lining of the coffin. 

  
“Ned. I,” she tried to gather her thoughts, everything moving a mile a minute while also standing still. “I know you told me to hate you, but you know that isn’t going to happen, right? I could never hate you.” 

 

She took at shakey breath and finally looked back down again and a tear fell onto Ned’s cheek. That was when she noticed that she was crying. With a soft motion, she wiped the tear away. “Even when I found the pendant, I didn’t hate you. I was mad, yes. But Ned, fuck, you are family. You and Duck, you guys were my family.”

 

She clutched the side of the coffin hard enough to make her knuckles turn white. Her vision got blurry and she wiped away some tears with her sleeve and at that moment she saw what Duck had placed in Ned’s hands.

 

It was a picture of the three of them on the bench in front of Amnesty Lodge. They were all holding glasses with Barclay’s homemade lemonade. Duck and Aubrey had grins on their faces and Ned was laughing, clutching his stomach and Aubrey noticed at that moment that she was never going to hear his full belly laugh again. She was never going to hear another horrible joke about cryptids, was never going to hear another crime story that seemed to strange to be real. She was never going to hear him give himself some weird middle name, just to get a laugh from them. Even if she did, she knew his real one now, but she didn’t want to know it, she wanted Ned back, she wanted her weird crime uncle back. 

 

The man who said that he wasn’t a hero, even though he acted so carelessly when it came to saving the other people in Kepler. The man who never knew his own worth and would never know it. 

 

“Ned? You need to wake up,” she pleaded, tears still falling, she had taken his cold hand into hers. “I can’t do this without you. We can’t do this, please Ned. I’m begging you, if not for me, do it for the others. Just, please come back.”

 

She let go of his hand without noticing, slowly sliding down onto the floor. “Please, please just come back,” she whispered, pulling her knees in front of her face. 

 

Seconds later, Duck was sitting beside her, holding her in his arms and they just held each other. Both of them crying silently over the loss of a part of their family. 

 

And even if everyone says that time heals all wounds, they both knew that they were never going to be the same. Something would always be missing. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, I don't know why I keep writing sad stuff 
> 
> You can find me on[Tumblr!](https://marveldevil.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Justthingstbh)  
> Come say hi if you want to, or send me a prompt!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [when it's all over](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19156477) by [ironiccowboykink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironiccowboykink/pseuds/ironiccowboykink)




End file.
